
where did you hear that? Blank was in the loop before the pick was made. He praised his staff for the courage to make the pick.....
https://********.com/arthur-blank-defends-falcons-first-round-pick-as-qb-succession-planning
But Blank said he's thankful the Falcons don't "always listen to the league" or media.
"And thank heavens we don't always do what everybody else thinks we should be doing. We're actually very independent thinkers," he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"We've been through a situation, post-Matt Ryan, when we're seeing that movie when we didn't have a franchise quarterback," Blank continued. "We didn't want to repeat that again. I mean, I certainly didn't. I'm super sensitive to all forms of succession planning. After 60-odd years of business, in any business, that's critical. At the key position, the quarterback position in the NFL, that's very important. So, just listening to our coaching staff and our personnel department, they really made the decision. Michael was going to be available at No. 8. They saw an extraordinary talent.